"Breakthrough form of Magnesium" L-Threonate (NeuroMag) by Life Extension?

Has anyone heard of or tried this product? It was featured in the Feb 2012 issue of Life Extension Magazine and ProHealth has an article on it....for some reason I can't get the links to the actual articles to copy and paste.

A research team at MIT has identified "a breakthrough form of magnesium" that can concentrate better in the brain, and demonstrated an ability in preclinical trials to support a reversal of some aspects of brain aging, explains Martin Alessio, a contributing writer for Life Extension Foundation.

The article was first published as the Life Extension Magazine* cover story for Feb 2012, and is reproduced here with kind permission.*

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Novel Magnesium Compound Reverses Neurodegeneration

By Martin Alessio

Aged people are in the midst of an escalating Alzheimer's epidemic.(1,2) It is now the sixth leading cause of death in the United States.(3) The horrific progression of Alzheimer's disease from dementia to personal extinction afflicts between 24 and 30 million people worldwide.(4,5) Americans account for approximately one-fifth of those cases, which are expected to triple by 2050.(3,6)

While there is no cure for Alzheimer's, there is new hope thanks to the work of a team of researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).(7)

These scientists have identified several correctable factors involved in Alzheimer's onset - and a novel nutritional intervention that may effectively target them.

In this article, you will learn:

Of the vital role that magnesium plays in protecting the aging brain's structure and function,

Researchers have found that a new highly absorbable form of magnesium called magnesium-L-threonate concentrates more efficiently in the brain, rebuilds ruptured synapses, and restores the degraded neuronal connections observed in Alzheimer's disease and other forms of memory loss.

In experimental models, magnesium-L-threonatex induced improvements of 18% for short-term memory and 100% for long-term memory.(8)

Magnesium Deficiency: An Overlooked Cause of Neurologic Decay

Half of all aging individuals in the developed world are magnesium deficient, a nutritional deficit that worsens over time. Confirmatory data show that Americans are no exception.(9,10) For instance, American women consume just 68% of the recommended daily intake of magnesium.(11)

Magnesium has long been known as a key nutrient for optimal brain function. More recently, scientists have found it specifically promotes learning and memory as a result of its beneficial effect on synaptic plasticity and density.(7,8,12)

Magnesium works with calcium to modulate "ion channels" that open in response to nerve impulses, which in turn trigger neurotransmitter release. The most important of those channels is controlled by a complex called the NMDA receptor.(13,14) NMDA receptors play an important role in promoting neural plasticity and synaptic density, the structural underpinnings of memory.(15-17)

Ominously, magnesium deficiency may produce no overt symptoms in its initial stages.(21) Part of the problem is that it is difficult for the body to maintain sufficiently high concentrations of magnesium in the brain.(8)

For this reason, researchers have long sought ways that higher magnesium brain concentrations might be achieved and sustained.

A Breakthrough Form of Magnesium

Scientists have been challenged to find a way to raise magnesium levels in the brain.(8) Even intravenous infusions cause only a modest elevation of magnesium levels in the central nervous system.(22)

An innovative team of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) recently found a way to surmount this obstacle. They formulated a new magnesium compound called magnesium-L-threonate or MgT that in lab tests allows for oral administration while maximizing magnesium "loading" into the brain.(7,8)

Based on prior research, they meticulously documented that increased levels of magnesium in the brain promote synaptic density and plasticity in the hippocampus.(14)

Up until now, however, no widely available forms of magnesium met the criteria needed for rapid absorption and efficient transfer into the central nervous system.(8)

By contrast, MgT yielded compelling results.

MgT oral supplements increased magnesium levels in spinal fluid, an index of measurement in brain magnesium by about 15%, while none of the other magnesium compounds tested produced significant elevations.(8)

While a 15% increase may not sound like a lot, it induced a profound effect on neurological function.

To evaluate the effects of MgT on memory, the researchers tested it against currently available magnesium compounds. They used a simple assessment of learning and memory called the Novel Object Recognition Test or NORT. A high NORT score means that the animal is good at recognizing and identifying new objects, a skill that is critical in aging humans as well.(8) NORT is a good test of function in the hippocampus, which is rich in the NMDA receptors so closely controlled by magnesium.(23)

The researchers put aged animals through the NORT test, supplementing them with MgT or one of the commercially available magnesium compounds. Only MgT significantly enhanced both short- and long-term memory, boosting scores by 15% for short-term memory and 54% for long-term memory compared to magnesium citrate.(8)

Better Function of Memory-Forming Synaptic Connections

Given the effect of MgT in increasing synaptic density and plasticity in experimental animals (rats), the research team asked the obvious next question, "Do those changes lead to an increase in the number of neurotransmitter release sites, and, subsequently, to enhanced signal transmission?"(8) That, after all, is the hallmark of learning and memory.

Using high-tech microscopic measuring devices, the team demonstrated that the magnesium elevation in brain tissue observed in MgT supplementation increases the number of functioning neurotransmitter release sites.(8) This effect could be likened to increasing the number of soldiers on the battlefield: when the call to action comes, a much larger force is prepared to perform.

The final question to be addressed in this series of studies was whether the increased density of synaptic connections directly correlated with the observed improvements in memory created by MgT supplementation.

The researchers systematically plotted out the time-course of the increase in synaptic density following MgT supplementation, and found that it directly paralleled the improvements in memory.(8) They also found that when MgT supplementation was stopped, the density of synaptic connections dropped back to baseline, further confirming the correlation.

They found that MgT supplementation boosted all of the animals' performance, not just average performance."

I'm not sure if Life Extension is the only company currently producing this or not......I did a search and didn't find many products.

I wonder why the number of receptors drops back down to baseline. If its increasing receptor sites, and doing so much, wouldnt there be at least some permanent positive outcomes? Or perhaps this research is just saying that MgT is just better/quick at eliminating a brain deficiency of Mg.

It would be interesting to know if there's any difference among the different brands. I might try Designs for Health's NeuroMag when my Life Extension Neuro-Mag is gone. I know that Designs for Health is pharmaceutical grade. I'm not sure about the other brands.

Can someone explain "pharmaceutical grade"? I used to buy "pharmeceutical grade" fish oil but stopped because Consumer Lab website said there was no such thing.

I want to try this new magnesium threonate though. I am currently taking Natural Calm Magnesium and find it works very well, my sister who was visitng had terrible jet lag so I made her a glass- she was out like a light with this stuff.

It would be interesting to know if there's any difference among the different brands. I might try Designs for Health's NeuroMag when my Life Extension Neuro-Mag is gone. I know that Designs for Health is pharmaceutical grade. I'm not sure about the other brands.

Click to expand...

I didn't know Designs for Health was making this product. I checked out some of the websites that sell "professional" brand supplements and couldn't find anything. I didnt' search "Neuro Mag" though.

Think I will try the Life Extension brand.

I think there may only be one company that is licensed to produce the actual raw material of mag l-threonate ....? So maybe all the products being sold are sourced from the same raw material and the only difference is how the individual vitamin companines process/encapsulate the product. Who knows? I may be wrong.

I have taken Neuromag. I had a post about it a while back. No one responded. I figured no one had heard of it. It made me very alert. I didn't really like it, but it is very interesting. My doctor wanted me to try it.

Hmmm.......well, I guess I'll find out soon enough if this product will be another waste of money LOL. I was only planning on 1 capsules as well.

I guess the "Alert" feeling you felt wasn't something pleasant the way you describe it. Hope it doens't cause anxiety.....

Thanks

P.S. Wish we could set up some kind of "supplement swap"..........I can only imagine how many supplements/vitamins are sitting on the shelves of memebers which they couldn't use and will go to waste! I just hate wasting things especially when they may help someone else. Also don't like seeing money thrown down the drain